How to prevent the allure of digital media from overtaking you or your loved ones

I admit it: I love technology. It’s the air I breathe. I tweet. I post to Facebook (you can find me there often—but not right now; keep reading!). I keep my Android smartphone with me at all times and live on my “big” computer for hours every day. I have multiple monitors. I have multiple email accounts, which all forward to one another to ensure I always get my messages, which are also synched to my phone. I own a Kindle. I own an iPad.

So—I get it. I understand the pull, the excitement, the fun of the digital forms of technology. And I am a true believer in harnessing their positives.

But I’m also a counselor and an addiction specialist, and some of what I see in digital media is deeply alarming. Kids age 8 through 18 spend almost 7-1/2 hours every day awash in media, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. Factoring in their ability to multitask (listening to music while browsing Facebook, for example), their media exposure rises to almost 11 hours a day—every day. Teens spend as much time (or more) with their media as parents do at work. Add in school and sleep, and it’s amazing how little time is left for a family to be a family. read more

Great parenting doesn’t happen by accident—ask Kate Battistelli, mother of Dove award-winning recording artist Francesca Battistelli. Through raising her daughter to understand her gifts and calling, Kate has discovered a few keys to steering children toward their destiny in God.

When my daughter, Francesca, was a little girl it was obvious that she had a flair for the dramatic and a bent toward the performing arts. So into ballet she went, then show choir and community theater, singing lessons, and later professional theater, guitar lessons, camps, conferences and college—all with an eye toward the future and a sense God had a plan for her in the performing arts.

Could I have ever known when she was 4 years old and starting ballet that she would grow up to be a Grammy-nominated contemporary Christian singer with five Dove Awards and five top-10 singles? Did I know her songs would be played on a variety of television shows and major motion pictures—all within the first two years of her career? Of course not. But I did know God had something special for her—just as He has for your child.

Successful adults don’t happen by accident. It takes intentional effort to raise children to adulthood who have a strong sense of their destiny in God, a passion to serve Him and a deep knowledge of His gifts and callings. As parents, we know our children better than anyone else. By partnering with God we can equip them to go after their dreams and be all He called and created them to be. read more

“I believe Charisma continues to play a crucial role in bringing insight and unity to the body of Christ.”

—Bessie Watson Rhoades

Revival for the Long-Haul

Charisma has been a staple since my conversion in the 1970s. I so appreciate how you continually morph and rebirth the magazine. I believe Charisma continues to play a crucial role in bringing insight and unity to the body of Christ. Thanks for stretching me again with the March issue. We need the truth about revival today. It’s not just for a few wacky zealots in it for the short haul; it’s for every committed, rooted Christian serious about our mandate to heal the sick, raise the dead, preach the gospel and make disciples.

Bessie Watson Rhoades, Cleveland

Stop the Fighting!

Marcus Yoars’ editorial, “Have We Become Armchair Revivalists?” (March) was excellent! My heart is saddened because so many fellow Christians do not participate in any move of God yet roundly criticize those who are blessed and changed by a move of God. I long for the church to be one in spirit and in truth, and for us to quit all our hateful bickering and backbiting.

Elaine Beachy, Manassas, Va.

How Divine was Jesus?

I have enjoyed Charisma for many years. However, I’m confused and disappointed by some statements pastor Bill Johnson made in “You’ve Got The Power!” (March). He claims that Jesus “emptied Himself of His divinity. ... It’s vital to note that He did all His miracles as a man, not as God.” The Philippians passage that Johnson cites never says He gave up His divinity. He did give up some of His majesty to become human, but if we take in the whole counsel of the Word, Jesus performed all His miracles as 100 percent God and 100 percent man. Christ the God-Man is a mystery, and we must handle the mystery with care.

Melisa Morse, via email

Missing a Hunter

I noticed in your March issue you left out one very powerful healing ministry: that of Joan Hunter, whose parents were Charles and Frances Hunter, aka “the Happy Hunters.” I’ve been in Joan’s meetings where there are multiple healings and instantaneous miracles! Your issue was good but missing Joan Hunter.

Samuel Rodriguez, a leading voice for Hispanic believers, offers a snapshot of the growing Latino evangelical church and explains what it means for America as a whole. To learn more, visit Hispanic.charismamag.com.

Growing Great Kids

Watch an exclusive Charisma interview at kateb.charismamag.com with Kate Battistelli as she discusses key principles needed to raise godly children.

A Guaranteed LIFE-CHANGER

Watch Jim Cymbala share miraculous stories of how the Holy Spirit’s power has dramatically changed lives (including the life of renowned “Son of Sam” serial killer David Berkowitz) at cymbala.charismamag.com. read more

I’ve never understood why Catholic and liturgical churches mark this key event in church history while few Pentecostals even know its significance

An email I recently received touted the power of social media to affect change. It bragged how “worthy” causes such as improving working conditions overseas, helping to keep someone from being deported, publicizing the problem with bullies in school and so forth were advanced through social media. But what caught my attention was this line: “These victories are amazing on their own. But we’re even more excited about the potential they represent: We’re living in a time where anyone, anywhere, can use the Internet to change the world.”

Sounds good—changing the world. The culture believes people working together can affect change through technology. But the real power for change isn’t in social media. As powerful as it is, it will be trumped someday by another source of change more powerful. The real power is the power of the Holy Spirit.

That’s what charismatics and Pentecostals believe—at least in theory. But do we really believe it? If we did we’d be as quick to publicize it as those who believe in social media do. read more

Shouldn’t “My house is your house” be the guiding principle in how we treat foreigners?

Earlier this year when I was preaching in California, a woman came to the church altar and asked me for prayer. She spoke with a thick Spanish accent. Her tears had already streaked her mascara, and she was trembling. In between her sobs she told me that her husband, who is not a U.S. citizen, had been deported to Mexico—leaving her and their four children behind.

This woman is a U.S. citizen, but her husband had been standing in line for 10 years to get his papers. As is often the case with Mexicans, bureaucracy offered him no compassion. Now a family is split up. The land of the free and the home of the brave slammed its doors on a Christian brother.